Question 1

Your best friend, who has recently graduated with honors from Harvard University, arrives at a party you are hosting. Despite being a total stranger to all of the guests, your friend is surrounded almost constantly by others throughout the entire evening. How would a theorist like Max Weber analyze this situation?

Accepted Answer

A)  Your friend likely has a large ego and is attention seeking by nature. 
B)  By attending an elite university, your friend has openly stated his dislike for the working class, drawing lots of attention. 
C)  Your friend enjoys high prestige due primarily to the affiliation with a high-prestige university. 
D)  Your friend enjoys a lot of wealth and privilege and thus draws others who seek that as well.

Question 2

Contemporary economic relations in many societies today tend to be organized around the exchange of money for services rather than around patterns of reciprocity. However, patterns of reciprocity still exist today even within highly stratified societies. What are three examples of patterns of reciprocity that are likely to occur in highly stratified societies today, and what purpose do they serve within or between social groups? How does gift giving relate to patterns of reciprocity, and what may be some underlying motivations in gift giving that are related to group survival or benefit? Given the longevity of reciprocity as a social pattern within human evolutionary experience, do you think it will continue to be present within and among social groups in the future? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Contemporary economic relations in many societies today...

Question 3

Theorist Karl Marx argued that societies in the emerging capitalist economy of nineteenth-century Europe consisted of two distinct classes of people: those who own the means of production and those who must sell their labor in return for wages. What were these two distinct classes called? What other resources or factors distinguished these two classes, according to Marx? What is one example of a way in which Marx's theory could be applied to understanding societies living in a global economy today? Do you find Marx's theory helpful in understanding class and social inequality today? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Theorist Karl Marx argued that societies in...

Question 4

What might Max Weber suggest is the primary difference between a lawyer in the United States and the self-made millionaire of a U.S.-based manufacturing company?

Accepted Answer

A)  The lawyer has high prestige by virtue of occupation, while the self-made millionaire has only wealth. 
B)  The lawyer wields a great deal of power by virtue of occupation, while the self-made millionaire has high prestige due to accomplishment. 
C)  The lawyer suffers low prestige by virtue of occupation, while the self-made millionaire enjoys high prestige by virtue of being self-made. 
D)  The lawyer has high wealth by virtue of occupation, while the self-made millionaire does not.

Question 5

Karl Marx examined social inequality by distinguishing between which two distinct classes of people?

Accepted Answer

A)  bourgeoisie and proletariat 
B)  bourgeoisie and elite 
C)  proletariat and impoverished 
D)  elite and privileged

Question 6

The concept of the American Dream emphasizes and promotes the notions of meritocracy and social mobility as central to both national identity and the experiences of U.S. citizens. These notions assume that all citizens have equal opportunity for upward social mobility regardless of current class position. What is meritocracy, and how does it relate to social mobility? Are both concepts experienced equally by U.S. citizens today regardless of class position? What are three examples of how class can affect individuals' experiences with meritocracy and social mobility? Given what you have read in the chapter on class and inequality, do you believe the American Dream is equally attainable to all U.S. citizens? Why or why not? Do you think the American Dream will become more equally attainable in the future? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

The answer of The concept of the American Dream emphasizes...

Question 7

Pierre Bourdieu worked to understand the relationship between class, culture, and power by studying schools in France with the expectation of finding that social mobility was the result of meritocracy. What did he discover instead?

Accepted Answer

A)  Social isolation took place due to the high rate of parental involvement. 
B)  Social reproduction tended to disappear after one generation of children had completed school. 
C)  Social mobility did not affect the relationship between parent and child. 
D)  Social relations were reproduced across generations.

Question 8

Economists clearly reveal that both the income and wealth gaps in the United States are widening substantially. What is the difference between income and wealth? Can an individual have high income but little wealth? Which households tend to be at the bottom of the income and wealth gaps, and which households are at the top? What are some of the reasons for the income and wealth disparities that exist in the United States today? Why are the U.S. income and wealth gaps widening despite increased globalization and access to educational opportunities? How do one's income and wealth affect his or her social mobility? What other systems of social stratification affect an individual's income and wealth and in what ways? How does Pem Davidson Buck's work with poor white people in rural Kentucky reflect how income and wealth are affected by other forms of social stratification?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Economists clearly reveal that both the income...

Exam 11: Class and Inequality

What might Max Weber suggest is the primary difference between a lawyer in the United States and the self-made millionaire of a U.S.-based manufacturing company?

Karl Marx examined social inequality by distinguishing between which two distinct classes of people?

Pierre Bourdieu worked to understand the relationship between class, culture, and power by studying schools in France with the expectation of finding that social mobility was the result of meritocracy. What did he discover instead?